Belt line charge



Nov. 27, 1956 A. J. DE FINO BELT LINE CHARGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug.15, 1947 rlt'llill IlIIIlIFIIl/iifll gvwc/wkom Anchnry TJ- DEFinn Nov.27, 1956 A. .1. DE FINO 2,771,841

BELT LINE CHARGE Filed Aug. 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 grunt/"for Anchmrg1T. DeFinn Figill United States Patent BELT LINE CHARGE Anthony J. DeFino, Bulfalo, N. Y., assignor to the United States of America asrepresented by the Secretary of War Application August 15, 1947, SerialNo. 768,791

2 Claims. (Cl. 102-22) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), see.266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by orfor the Government, for governmental purposes, without the payment to meof any royalties thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in mine field clearing.

An object of the invention is to provide a flexible elongated casingcontaining a number of separate charges of high explosive material,closely spaced within the casing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a casing having uniformlyspaced pockets for receiving and holding the charges at a predeterminedspaced distance apart.

A further object of the invention is to provide a casing having two ormore tiers of pockets in overlapping relationship so as to causedetonation of the entire train of explosives in the event that any partof the casing stretches during use.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a flexible casingconstructed of light weight material that will permit the casing whenloaded to be coiled on a platform, in a receptacle or on a reel and tobe projected over a mine field by attaching one end thereof to a rocketprojectile.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a flexible casingthat can be coiled within the bomb bay of an airplane and released upona mine field.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a flexible casingwhich when loaded with high explosive material and dropped on the groundsurface will adjust itself to lie in close proximity therewith, and whendetonated will extert its forces to set off buried mines along itsentire length.

Other obects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during thecourse of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughoutthe same.

Figure 1 is an end view of a length of webbing of which the presentinvention is constructed, illustrating the first step in the method ofassembly, wherein a second strip of webbing is stitched centrally andlongitudinally to the first strip of webbing.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view after the first strip of Webbing isbent to shape,

Figure 4 is a similar view after the connecting strips or threads aresewed in place to form longitudinally disposed compartments,

Figure 5 is a similar view after the formed charges are placed in thecompartments,

Figure 6 is a cross section taken on the line 6--6 of Figure 7 after theopen longitudinal flaps are sewed in place to completely enclose thecharges,

Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of the completed casing taken on theline 7-7 of Figure 6,

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the formed charges,

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic plan view of a mine field showing the casingsecured to a rocket projectile and ready to be projected over the field,

Figure 10 is a similar view showing the casing after it has beenprojected to its full length and preparatory to detonation, and

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic view showing the casing being positioned ona field by an airplane.

Heretofore in the use of devices similar to the present disclosure onedisadvantage has been observed, and that isthat the fabric casingstretched when projected to such a degree that detonation from adjacentcharges ceased at the point where the stretch occurred.

The present invention was devised to-overcome this and otherdifliculties as will be apparent as the description proceeds.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration,is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 1designates an elongated strip of webbing which may be of woven fabric orof any light weight flexible material tough enough to withstand thestresses imposed in use.

For the purpose intended, the strip of webbing 1 may vary in length upto several hundred feet. The reference character L indicates thedirection of length of said strip.

Centrally of the width of webbing 1 and longitudinally thereof a secondstrip 2 of webbing having similar characteristics to the strip 1 isstitched or sewed as at 3. A longitudinal reinforcing element such as acord, rope or braid 7 is sewed on the side of webbing 1 opposite to theside on which the webbing 2 is attached.

The webbing 1 is bent on the dotted lines 8 and 9 of Figure 2 to formouter walls 10 and 11, parallel to each other and to the webbing 2 asshown in Figure 3. At this step in assembly of the device, two separatelongitudinally spaced identical compartments 12 and 13 are formed, eachcompartment open at one side, and closed at its opposite side by theportion 14 of the webbing 1.

The central strip of webbing 2 and the formed outer walls 10 and 11 areheld in the position shown in the drawings while spaced partitions 15are sewed to the webbing 2 and to the outer wall 10. These partitions 15are positioned at predetermined spacings to produce pockets 16 forreceiving formed charges which will be described hereinafter. 4

The partitions 15 are also positioned so as to producehollow gaps 17between each pocket 16 to increase flexibility of the completedstructure.

Various methods of forming the partitions 15 may be resorted to. Onemethod being to sew single threads close together to form a continuouspartition, or strips of tape may be substituted for the threads andeither sewed or cemented to the Webbing 2 and to the outer wall 10.

Similar partitions 18 are secured to the central strip of webbing 2 andthe outer wall 11. These partitions '18 are spaced similarly to thepartitions 15 to form pockets 19 for the charges and hollow gaps 20 forlongitudinal flexibility of the structure. The pockets 16 and 19 arethus placed on opposite sides of the central strip of webbing 2 inrelative overlapping position as shown in Figure 7.

Formed charges 21 having the desired explosive characteristics are firstwrapped in a covering 22 of a mate- I rial impervious to oil and waterand then placed in the pockets 16 and 19.

After the charges 21 are in place, the open portion of wall 10 is benton the dotted lines 23 and 24 to close one row of pockets, and the openpartition of wall 11 is bent on the dotted lines 25 and 26 to close theouter row of pockets.

The outer portions of walls 10 andllfold against the sides of theoutwardly extending portion of the central strip of Webbing 2, and aresecurely sewed as at 27 to a '3 the webbing 2 to form a continuous beltlike casing B. Longitudinal reinforcing elements 28 such as shown at 7may be sewed at this point throughout the length of the :casing'B.

Other similar reinforcing elements 29 may be secured .to the corners ofthe completed structure, if necessary, as shown in Figure 6.-

The front end of the casing is formed into a loop 30 vto which aflexible element such as a rope R may be secured for attachment to arocket projectile P, as shown inFigure 9, whereby the device isprojected in a straight line acrossa minefield. 7

Any suitable means, such as a squib 31, maybe inserted in the rear endcharge 32, whereby detonation of the entire train of charges isaccomplished.

' .When the casing B is-dropped from an airplane, 'it may be.providedwith atime fuze or other suitable delayed action detonator toallow the airplane suflicient time to move out of the dangerzone.

At itsrea-r end the-casing B is formed into a loop 33 similar to theloop 30 atits front end, and receives a flexible element S for limitingthe travel of the casing as will be explained.

Referring to Figures 9 and-10 wherein a diagrammatic layout is shown,illustrating the use of the present invention,,the reference. characterF designates a portion of a fieldto be...cleared and M designates buriedmines.

Located at a safe distance from the mine field is an open top receptacleC in which the casing B is coiled. The rocket projectile P is secured byany preferred means to the flexible element R, which is attached to thefront end of the belt. The flexible element S is secured to the rear endof the belt B and to any suitable form of anchor A whereby the .belt isprevented from being carried too far into the mine field.

Detonating means including a source of electrical energy suchas abattery E and wires W are electrically connected to the squib 31 afterthe casing B is projected onto the field F.

Figure 11 shows .a modified method of positioning the casingonto a minefield. By this method the casing is carried on. a reel 35 within anairplane P' and released by. a crew member. 4

By this modified method a flexible element R similar to the one R butmuch longer is wound on the reel 35. This-flexible element R is securedto a loop 30 formed on the casing B. A flexible element 8' similar tothe flexible element S is secured at one end to a loop 33 in the rearend of the casing B and at its other end to any suitable anchoring meansA.

The operation of the device is as follows:

In clearing a mine field, it is desirable to cause detonationof allmines in a selected straight line path so as to avoid leaving pockets ofundetonated mines.

The receptacle .C is set up at a safe distance from the suspected minedarea and the casing B is coiled thereon. The flexible element S issecured to the anchoring means A and to thecasing B, and the anchor isplaced in the ground at a predetermined distance from the danger area sothat the rear end of the casing will extend slightly onto the safearea.' This will safeguard the operator while attaching thev Wires W tothe squib 31.

The rocket P is then secured to the front end of the casing B by meansof the flexible element R which is of sufficient length to preventdetonation of the explosive charges from the rocket blast.

When the rocket propelling charge is ignited in any well known manner,the rocket willbe projected forwardly across the field. pulling thecoiled casing from the receptacle and across the field. The flexibilityof the casingwill permit it to easily uncoil itself from the Propellantcharges in the rocket P will be determined by the length of the casingused so as not to impose unnecessary stresses thereon.

In the modified method of laying the casing on the mine field, as shownin Figure 11, an airplane P serves as the projecting means and the reel35 serves in place of the receptacle C. This method is used when theground surface is too irregular to use a rocket projector.

By this method the flexible element R is wound on the reel 35 but is notsecured to it. The casingC-and the flexible element S are also woundthereon leaving the anchor resting on the bomb-bay door.

The airplane willfly low over the field and when the bomb-bay door isopened the anchor A will fall. out pulling the casing B-oif the reel 35.

The flexible element R is of suflicient length to aid in holding thecasing in a straight line from its anchor A until the forward end of thecasing isIlow enough to the ground to avoid air currents which mightforce it olfits intended path.

When the flexible element R is entirely unwound from the reel 35, itwill fall to the ground thus aiding in preventing the forward end of thecasing from forming kinks or bends in its unsupported end. 7

It is to be understood that the form of my invention,

herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example ofthe same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement ofparts maybe resorted to, without departing from the spirit of myinvention, or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: c

l. A mine detonator for detonating substantially simultaneously aplurality of explosive charges comprising a longitudinal partitionformed of flexible material, an elongated strip of webbing formed ofsaid flexible'material, means for securing one side of said partition tosaid strip centrally and longitudinally thereof, a plurality :oftransversely spaced partitions fastened at one end thereof to said stripand at the other end thereof to said partition thereby forming aplurality of pockets, one pocket overlapping two pockets on the oppositeside of said partition by an amount suflicient to maintain overlapthereof during stretched conditions of said flexible material, a formed,detonating explosive charge substantially filling each of said pockets,means for providing hollow gaps between adjacent explosive charges oneach side of said partition to increase the flexibility of said minedetonator, and means for securing the longitudinal edges of said stripto the other side of said partition.

2. The mine detonator according to claim 1 further comprising externaldetonating means connected to one of said charges for detonatingsubstantially simultaneously all of said charges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

